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Devils
The Devils that live in Desolation are not indigenous. They come from Fel, a far off world that orbits a red dwarf. History History of the Fel Empire can be broken down into three basic eras. The Septumberant, Imperial, and the Collapse. Septumberant During the Septumberant era, the Fel were nearly always warring among themselves as Domi attempted to gain power over each other. It came to a head when they became space-faring and the Domi started to align themselves under the banner of Septumberant. Each Septumberant was fighting for control of all the Domi and this lasted for millennia. Towards the end of this era, Domum Lusem engaged in a series of diplomatic and military maneuvers that ended with the Septumberant to ally themselves with Domum Lusem, effectively ending the millennia of wars and power struggles. This is what began the Imperial era. Imperial For a majority of the Fel Devil's history, they were in the Fel Empire and expanded across the universe at a rapid pace. While still one of the first races, they started to form a reputation for being ruthless conquerors. If a world had something they wanted, they took it with little regard to the indigenous populations. Their mastery of magic, technology and biology lead to their immortality as well as their marvelous and terrifying creations. The Imperial era ended when the sitting emperor, Hsien Terminalis decided to become a Slave without selecting an heir to Domum Lusem and subsequently, the Fel Empire. The Collapse For ten millennia, the Fel Empire was in collapse. Without a leader for Domum Lusem, a power vacuum was created. Those that didn't leave with; the now Slave King; to Desolation, fought among themselves for control over the Domum, but eventually the lesser Domi eventually got absorbed by other members of the Fana Ekselsorum. Without a the Imperial Domum maintaining the alliances, the Fana Ekselsorum fought among themselves again attempting to come out on top and be the new Imperial Domum. Morphology Devil biology are a marvel of both evolution and engineering. Millennia ago, they began modifying their own genome to remove defects and boost longevity. Now they are nearly indestructible and immortal. A common note among their anatomy is their ability to endure massive amounts of trauma due to their rapid regenerative abilities. Immuno-regenerative System A devil's immune and regenerative systems are both strongly intertwined and, by now, one of the most manufactured part of their genome. Where most organisms possess an adaptive immunize system, learning to ward off an infection overtime, the devils have adapted and expanded upon this concept. As they incur injury throughout their lifespan, the devil begins to develop a resistance through learned trauma. This is due to an engineered virus that resides mainly within their circulatory and lymphatic systems. The immunovirus is manufactured in viroblasts, specialized cells that line their lymph nodes. They possess a duel role of fighting off infections. In the case of foreign bodies such as bacteria within the devil, the virus attempts to infiltrate, replicate, and lyse the cell. This is why no non-devils are normally allowed contact with their blood for it could cause a mass infection of an unwitting host. For viral infections, the immunovirus is able to enzymatically cleave foreign copies of DNA or RNA attempting to infect a devil cell it resides in. Every time it is exposed to a new invader, the immunovirus has a chance to mutate. Over time, the devil will host a variety of viral populations mutated from the precursors its viroblasts produce. This is tied to their regeneration because a devil’s cells undergo mitosis at an alarming rate. In most humanoids, this would translate into cancers and other unexpected growths, but the immunovirus destroys such growths before they have a chance to become detrimental— scanning the devil’s genome for compromised code and lysing cancerous cells as if they were foreign. This allows their bodies to quickly recover from often lethal wounds in a matter of moments as their body becomes more efficient at eradicating mutated growths, allowing the body to expend more time to healing. Vision The devils once possessed visual abilities far inferior to those of the Nashitiri, their retinas barely able to perceive the magical fields around them. However, through genetic manipulation, the devils have doubled their number of photoreceptors, allowing them to perceive a vast spectrum of EM radiation (from infrared to far UV) as well as magical emissions. Large optic nerves carry the exorbitant information to their visual cortex. However, the drawback to this complex visual machinery lies within its developmental period. Young devils do not fully develop their optical abilities until late in adult hood, when their brains develop to process the visual cues. The devils further refined the support cells surrounding these photoreceptors, developing crystalline lattices to filter various wavelengths of light, giving them a visual fidelity far superior to any natural creature found on desolation. Culture Devil culture is complex. Rooted deep within it is a feudal system of governance with the Emperor being the leader of the most powerful Domum among all the other Domi. The Domi The feudal nature of the Domi means that each Domum is in constant competition to influence the Empire. The most powerful Domi are known as the Fana Ekselsorum (or High Houses); the highest house belongs to the Emperor. The smaller Domi end up pledging allegiances to larger houses and share resources and favors as such. This network or allegiances work their way up to the Fana Ekselsorum who pledge their allegiance to the Imperial Domum. While each world that a Domum has control has a Kuria, the world that the Domum considers their capital contains their Magna Kuria where all the decisions of the Domum is made. Domum Ignis "Hammer and Forge." Domum Ignis was one of the first Domum to pledge loyalty to Domum Lusem before the Collapse. Domum Ignis was an industrial powerhouse able to extract and refine rare and important materials such as Gold and Iron. As the Empire became more technologically advanced, they even managed to establish their Magna Kuria off the homeworld on their sun itself. They now are the exclusive producers of many materials that are necessities for the Empire (neutronium, duranium, arcanium, and aurumite to name a few) by absorbing other smaller Domi and giving them lucrative mining contracts. Having no real army beyond the limited ability to defend their mining claims from outsiders and mortals, Domum Ignis almost immediately declared their loyalty to Domum Furorem when the collapse became imminent. Domum Lusem "We are the Light." Domum Lusem was the Imperial House that reigned since the beginning of the Empire and is responsible for the Collapse when the Lusem inexplicably gave up control of the Empire and caused infighting among the Fana Ekselsorum to fill in the power vacuum caused by their absence. Domum Lusem maintained their rule for thousands of accessions through sheer charisma and cult of personality. Over the accessions they have mastered the integration of a variety of fields in both magic and science allowing them to stay powerful; this includes the creation and development of the Sins which allowed them to conquer world after world. After the collapse, Domum Lusem consolidated and made the Black City on Desolation their Magna Kuria. Domum Nokte "Silent Night, Stolen Breath." Domum Nokte is one of the smallest and more feared of the Fana Ekselsorum. No one knows their true numbers or to what other Domi they had aligned with as they choose to work in the shadows. Domum Nokte also do not have a Domi Sanktus like the other Fana Ekselsorum because it draws too much attention. Their ability to utilize stealth made them prominent information dealers and spies, but most noteworthy was how Lusem utilized them to assassinate opposition. After the collapse, they were still utilized for their unique skills, but no one really knows where their allegiance lies. Constructions of Note The Devils of the Fel Empire has a few standout structures. A testament to Devil construction and engineering prowess, they not only impressive, but massive. Domum Sanktus Like many of the larger construction marvels, the Domum Sanktus was built by Domum Ignis. Domum Ignis to christen the newly formed Fel Empire presented the Fana Ekselsorum with a gift of a massive monolith of a ship capable of spatial jumping. The Domum Sanktus were massive, holding a crew and population in the millions. It took four centuries to construct them all. It consumed so many resources that they were only able to build one for each Fana Ekselsorum; when Domum Nokte politely rejected the gift of such a massive structure, the spare was given to Domum Lusem. When Domum Luktus accepted their Domum Sanktus, it was never seen again. Shortly after the collapse, Lusem ended up abandoning one and destroying the other over the Red City. The other Fana Ekselsorum still covet their Domum Sanktus as the last symbol of their authority. Fornax The Fornaxi are used primarily by Domum Ignis. The structure sits on the surface of stars and is capable of mining the stellar surface for materials and power large forges capable of producing exotic and rare materials. The largest of the Fornaxi is Fornax Fel that Domum Ignis use as their Magnus Kura. Portam Sivitatis Massive cities capable of holding millions of denizens. The defining feature of the Protam Sivitatis is its ability to generate portals to other worlds, facilitating transport of people from one world to another. Game Stats The stats presented here for for d20 3.5e and 5e made by Wizard's of the Coast. 3.5 Edition Vision: Darkvision 120 feet. Magic Sense: A Devil can cast detect magic as a spellcaster equal to their hit die, at will. True Vision: A Devil automatically passes Will Save Throws against illusions. Immortal: Devils are immune to ageing effects. Poison and Disease Immunity: Unless under the effects of being exposed to gold, Devils are immune to poisons and diseases. Regeneration: '''A Devil regenerates at a rate of their level per round. Attacks that use gold ignore a Devil's regeneration. '''Gold Allergy: A Devil's Constitution Score is temporarily reduced by half, rounded up, for 1d4 rounds for every round they are exposed to gold. Skilled: Like humans, Devils gain an additional four skill points at first level and an additional one skill point every level after that.